The Communion's Extraordinary Ones rose to their feet, staring fixedly at the hatch and tightening their grips on their weapons.
Their prayers were halting, their words indistinct, yet more devout than ever before.
But Allen, their captain, fell into thought as he watched the monster outside.
"Wait, this kind of monster..."
Through the narrow pane of glass in the hatch, he looked at the enormous monster.
Long hair covered its body, with powerful, knotted muscles and multiple arms...
Why did this monster look so familiar?
Allen suddenly shuddered. He remembered!
"The festival! The Saint Clair festival! This is one of the monsters from the festival!!"
Allen cried out.
Hearing him, the other believers looked over as well, and soon understanding dawned on their faces.
"It... it really is!"
"I fought that time too. This is exactly the kind of monster it was!!"
"Heavens, why are they in the Sea of the Moon!?"
Allen felt as though lightning had flashed through his mind. In an instant, many clues fell into place.
The Cosmog Dynasty worshipped the moon, and there was that ruin where sacrifices had been offered to the moon.
The monsters had originally been commoners, who had suddenly turned into monsters for no apparent reason.
Even Maeve, who had a monster form, had powers that were not only related to the moon but also included parasitism!
"Could it be..."
Allen stared blankly upward, his gaze seeming to pass through the ceiling, through the Sea of the Moon, then away from the moon and ever upward.
In the Empire, in Saint Clair, in New Scandinavia, countless people raised their heads in unison to look at the sky.
The full moon was gradually turning red, becoming a blood moon.
Only this time, the moon was a more vivid red than ever before.